Mesh belts made from woven plastic fibers are widely used for wet transport in the vegetable industry and particularly for salads. The mesh belts are typically provided with sealed belt edges. Coated drums are usually used to drive these belts. One significant problem in the application of such belts is the tracking on the driving and idling drums. This problem is particularly relevant in the case of short belts, but long belts also suffer from tracking problems. As a result of these problems, the belt edges may be damaged and may require process interruptions and expensive maintenance work. Also, belts with these type of drives need to be longitudinally tensioned to allow driving by drums. Since mesh fabrics are geometrically not totally homogeneous over the width of the belt, equal tensioning over the full belt width can be difficult to achieve.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mesh belt that offers a positive belt drive without any tracking problems thereby avoiding damage to the belt and increasing production efficiency and belt life.